Chapter 4 - The House of Cards Collapses
Three days later, I was walking out of my office building when I saw them. Ethan and Savannah, standing by the revolving doors. Ethan looked like he hadn't slept in a week. His hair was messy, his designer suit wrinkled. Savannah stood slightly behind him, no longer looking like the smug, triumphant best friend, but like a woman who had just realized she backed the wrong horse.
“Claire,” Ethan intercepted me, his eyes wide and frantic. “You have to fix this. You have to call the board. Tell them there was a mistake. Tell them you were just angry about the wedding.”
I stopped and looked at him, feeling absolutely nothing. “There was no mistake, Ethan. The numbers are the numbers. I just stopped hiding them for you.”
“You’re destroying my life!” he yelled, drawing the attention of passing executives. “Over a stupid dress! We can work this out, Claire. I’m sorry. I’ll cut Savannah off, I swear. Just please, call the investors.”
Savannah’s head snapped toward him. “Cut me off?” she echoed, her voice shrill. “You told me this was her fault! You told me she was just having a breakdown!”
“Shut up, Savannah!” Ethan snapped at her.
I watched the two of them turn on each other in real-time. Without my money, my stability, and my protection, the fantasy they had built around themselves evaporated. Savannah didn't want a broke, disgraced founder facing a fraud investigation. And Ethan was entirely incapable of managing a crisis without a woman doing the heavy lifting for him.
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“I’m not calling anyone, Ethan,” I said, adjusting my coat. “You said I had that ‘boardroom thing’ where I look like I’m about to discover someone’s numbers are wrong. Well, I discovered yours were wrong. So I corrected the ledger.”
I walked past them. I didn't look back when Savannah started screaming at him on the sidewalk. I didn't look back when his company officially filed for bankruptcy three weeks later, and I definitely didn't look back when I heard through mutual friends that Savannah had blocked his number and moved to Miami with a real estate agent.
